Sam O'Brien
'''Sam 'OB' O'Brien '''played by Darren Jeffries made his on-screen debut on the 16 June 1997 before leaving on 26 February 2008. He later made a brief return in July 2008 before leaving on 11 July 2008. While on the show O.B.'s storylines revolved around his friendship with and several relationships. The character has been described as iconic and is most notable for his "Classic comedy duo" status with Max. It was announced in October 2016 that Jeffries would make a permanent return to the series in November 2016. Biography Arrival O.B. first appears in Hollyoaks when he and Max Cunningham (Matt Littler) are briefly school rivals, but soon became best friends. O.B. and Max hold Jambo Bolton's (Will Mellor) car Beryl for ransom. O.B. loses his virginity with Chloe Bruce (Mikyla Dodd). After a brief attempt at a music career with Max he decides to sit his A levels at College. He becomes best friends with Jamie Nash at college. O.B. becomes an alcoholic, drinking regularly at The Dog in the Pond, which causes him to become behind on his college work. OB, Max, Ben Davies (Marcus Patric), Theo Sankofa (Andrew Somerville), Kristian Hargreaves (Max Brown), and Jamie Nash (Stefan Booth) decide to go on a potholing trip. The trip ends in disaster when an accident occurs killing Theo and OB's best friend Jamie. O.B. feels responsible for Theo's death, after failing to hold on to him in the van. O.B. then starts to appreciate what he has in life, and starts a fitness diet without drinking any alcohol. O.B. has a brief relationship with a girl called Roxy who he meets online. She is later murdered by Toby Mills (Henry Luxumburg). Tony's affair OB discovers that Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard) is having an affair with Max's stepmother Helen Cunningham (Kathryn George). Tony tries to persuade OB not to tell anyone, but OB tells Max who is assured the affair has ended by Tony. The affair is finally revealed to Gordon Cunningham (Bernard Latham) who reconiles with Helen before dying together in a car crash. OB moves in with Max and begins helping look after Tom Cunningham (Ellis Hollins), Max's half brother. Relationship with Mel Burton OB and Mel Burton (Cassie Powney) begin a brief relationship but end it because of her drinking problems. Max and O.B. later become owners of The Loft. They hire entertainer Clare Devine (Gemma Bissix) for the club. Max and Clare begin a relationship and O.B. becomes suspicious of Clare leading to Max and O.B. having a fight. O.B. moves out of Max's flat because of Clare turning Max against O.B.. Clare frames O.B. for drug possession on her wedding day to Max. O.B. stops the wedding after being released revealing Clare planned to leave after marrying Max and had bought a plane ticket. Clare lies that she had meant to order two, as a surprise honeymoon. Max punches O.B. and cuts his contact with Tom off. Clare and Warren Mel, who also believes O.B., gets evidence of Clare cheating on Max with Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) from CCTV footage in Evissa. After O.B. and Mel threaten Clare and are about to leave the Dog to speak to Max, the pub was destroyed by Sam Owen (Louis Tamone). O.B. discovers Mel's body and when he tries to help Sophie through the flames he is knocked out with a brick by Sam. The explosion leaves O.B. hospitalised and kills Mel, Sophie and three others. Whilst in hospital O.B. is threatened by Clare before she steals the evidence of her relationship with Warren. O.B. briefly dates Carmel McQueen (Gemma Merna) but O.B. ends the relationship after he realises he isn't over Mel. Max has a heart attack and when O.B. goes to see him at hospital he is told to leave. Clare stops anyone visiting Max at Christmas so O.B. visits him when she isn't home. Clare returns before O.B. can take Max to hospital after she'd been tampering with his medication. Clare leaves for the countryside, so she could slowly kill him by tampering with his medication again. Clare tells Max that Tom has fallen into an icy lake, so Max dives in. O.B. arrives before Max drowns and punches Clare before diving in to save Max. O.B. and Max rekindle their friendship. In summer 2007 Max and O.B. open MOBS. O.B. shoves Clare against a wall after and threatens to kill her after she insults Mel and Sophie. O.B. becomes a suspect in the attempted murder of Clare after she is pushed off a balcony. He is questioned by the police, but released due to insufficient evidence. On 29 June 2007, O.B. attempts to kill Clare in hospital but is interrupted by a police officer. In September, the culprit is revealed to be Justin Burton (Chris Fountain), who had overheard Clare's remarks about his sisters. Clare's "death" Clare is thought to have died at a quarry and convinces Max to pursue his interest in Steph Dean (Carley Stenson). After the two begin a relationship O.B. feels left out. He begins a friendship with Simon Crosby, a lifeguard at a local pool. Gilly Roach (Anthony Quinlan) witnesses a young boy leaving Simon's cubicle in tears, and becomes convinced Simon is a paedophile. He tells O.B. and Max, but O.B. strongly disagrees. Gilly becomes distressed when he witnesses Simon taking several boys out for ice cream. Gilly breaks into Simon's house and finds pictures of boys in their swimming trunks. O.B., Max, and Gilly go to Simon's house the next day and find a child's bedroom. Max is convinced Simon is a danger to children so punches O.B. as Simon is looking after Tom. Max later beats up Simon and is arrested for assault. O.B. continues to believe that Simon is innocent, and is angry over Max's actions. He is upset when Max tells O.B. he isn't as emotionally involved as Max because he was not Tom's brother. Simon's ex-wife Gemma arrives for a visit and tells them she and Simon had a son who had drowned, that the bedroom was their son's room and that the photos would have been presents for the parents of each child after they graduated from his swimming class. Gilly and Jake Dean (Kevin Sacre) form a lynch mob and begin assaulting Simon's house with bricks and bottles. When O.B., Gemma and Max get inside, they see him unconscious on the floor, holding his son's photo in his hand. Simon survives the overdose, but tells O.B. that he can't stay in the village. After Max's disbelief of O.B. he moves into Tony's flat. Tom asks him to forgive Max which he did. Relationship with Summer Shaw and departure O.B. begins a relationship with Summer Shaw (Summer Strallen), a performing arts student. Summer decides to leave for London. O.B. decides that he doesn't want to leave Max and Tom behind. O.B. decides to leave with Summer after realising his feelings for her. O.B. then leaves the village. Summer and O.B. arrive in London where she gets the part of Maria in The Sound of Music and soon after return to Hollyoaks. Summer leaves for London but O.B. has doubts about moving to London so remains. Max persuades O.B. to go down to London and tell Summer his true feelings. He is accompanied by Max, Tom and Steph. O.B. then begins a new life with Summer in London. O.B. then bids farewell to Max and Tom. Max's wedding O.B. returns for Max and Steph's wedding. O.B. and Summer plan to move to New York and Max agrees to join him after the wedding is cancelled. Steph later convinces him to marry her. On the morning of the wedding, Max starts to experience chest pains and is rushed to hospital. Steph and Max finally marry. Max gives O.B. a watch inscribed with the words Best Man, Best Mate. Tom is playing in the road and doesn't see Niall Rafferty's (Barry Sloane) car hurtling towards him. Max gets him to safety, but was mortally wounded in the process. O.B. held Max as he died. He writes a eulogy for Max's funeral, but he and Tom couldn't bear to attend. Tom decides to stay with Steph instead of leaving with O.B. who plans to return to London. Steph, Tom, Mandy, and Cindy gather in the street to say goodbye. O.B. looks to the Drive'n'Buy, where he briefly sees Max, nodding a silent farewell. Jack Osborne (Jimmy McKenna) and Tom visit him while he is staying in London in June 2010. See Also * List of appearances Category:O'Brien Family Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:1997 Characters Category:2008 Departures Category:2016 Returns Category:2017 Departures Category:Club owners